I could always hear strange noises coming from the room next to me. A cacophony of people having intercourse. The noise kept me awake all night. But the strange thing was, he lives alone.

I had a new roommate.

Strange noises always came from his room at night. Plus, there was always a strong foul stench, even on him. Every time he walked past me, I needed to cover my nose.

I always thought that he often brought his girlfriend home to have fun all night long, but I never once saw his girlfriend.

The noises irked me to no end. Even putting on noise-cancelling earphones did not help. Did he bring his girlfriend home again this time?

The noise lasted for a few hours before stopping. I finally fell asleep due to exhaustion.

The next morning, I was about to head to work. I opened the door to see my roommate sitting on the couch.

I furrowed my eyebrows. That foul stench seemed to have gotten worse.

When he saw me coming out of my room, his eyes brightened. I was in a professional work suit that day, which was nowhere revealing.

Still, he still looked at me intentionally. He disgusted me.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well? Did I bother you with the noise?" He smirked.

How could he not know how loud he was?

I frowned, glaring at him as I headed for the door.

He explained, "I'm a voice actor. I need the quiet of the night to be able to come up with different voice scenarios."

He smiled and looked at me lewdly. "I'm sure you'd understand that some voices can't be done in the office."

I thought back to those videos I saw about voice actors and how different they looked compared to the voices that they were playing.

When he noticed I still seemed suspicious, he got up from the couch.

The foul stench followed him and wafted through the room. It suffocated the entire place.

I took a step back, not hiding my disgust. I furrowed my eyebrows tight.

He was a little stunned. Then, he smiled widely, showing teeth.

I hated myself for having great eyesight at that moment. I could see the amount of food stuck in between his teeth. My stomach rumbled in nausea.

"See, this is my work badge." He raised his work badge in front of me.

The foul stench was even stronger when he was closer to me, and I tried hard not to retch.

He was a voice actor after all.

I was secretly relieved, but I still kept my guard up. Ever since he moved in, I always felt like I was being watched, and the hairs on the back of my neck often stood up.

That day, I was about to take a shower.

I had forgotten to lock the door after entering, though. When I heard the front door opening softly, I was a little alarmed.

Then, I heard the rustling of footsteps getting closer to the bathroom.

I quickly rushed to the door and locked it from the inside. My previous roommate was a lady, and I never had such a problem, so I had the habit of not locking the door.

I was careless. I forgot that I was living with a man. I wondered if he would have barged in if I locked the door a little later?

"Is that you? What are you trying to do?" I said in the iciest voice I could muster, trying to intimidate him.

I was terrified he would barge in. The bathroom door was not sturdy, after all, and any adult could have kicked it down.

No answer came; all I heard was quiet footsteps. He left.

I quickly showered and wrapped myself tightly. I put on my pajama robe and wrapped myself in a huge towel before walking out of the bathroom.

He was sitting on the couch with his back facing me. When he heard me coming out of the bathroom, he immediately turned to look at me with a calm smile. "I wanted to use the bathroom. I was a little sleepy, so I didn't realize you were there. I’m sorry."

He looked rather innocent.

"I-I see... It's fine."

After exchanging a few sentences, I returned to my room while he headed to the bathroom. I blew-dry my hair and put on a facial mask. When I came out of the room, he was no longer in the living room.

The door to his room was shut tight.

It felt like I was the paranoid one from the start. He, on the other hand, was always composed.

I forced myself to calm down and kept telling myself I was overthinking things.

Did I have a preconceived notion about him all this while?

At that moment, I noticed something strange. Did I hang my clothes this way? I could not recall it being that way exactly.

I could not be sure since it was always a random action.

"I'm just being paranoid," I muttered to myself.

My roommate's door was facing the balcony. Just when I finished hanging my clothes on the balcony and turned around, I suddenly noticed…

I did not know when, but the door to his room was slightly ajar. Through the slit, I noticed the reflection of his glasses.

This time, I was sure that he was peeping on me.

My roommate shut the door when our eyes met.

A sense of dread overwhelmed me. He was just peeking at this point, sure, but what if he were to get more aggressive?

Frightened at the mere thought, I quickly returned to my room and ordered pepper spray online.

The delivery took a few days. I considered my situation, and then I locked my door with a hanger, following the guides I read online. That way, he would not be able to open the door from the outside.

I cowered under my sheets, secretly praying that he was a cowardly scoundrel.

The next few days went by peacefully. He was quiet at night. Neither did I ever catch him spying on me again.

I gradually let my guard down. Life seemed to return to normal.

On Saturday, I could finally sleep in, and it felt good. I thought about going to look for my best friend to go shopping and have a feast.

I opened the door and headed out, but it was then I froze when I saw what was happening on the balcony.

"What are you doing? That's… That's sick!"

He smirked lewdly, not at all embarrassed that I caught him in the act. "The only reason you're hanging it on the balcony is to seduce me, right?"

He looked me up and down and snickered ominously. "Congratulations, you've succeeded. Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

What sort of sick mongrel was he?!

I subconsciously took a step back and bit my lip. Facing his predatory stare, I turned and ran back to my room.

My heart was pounding hard. I was terrified.

No. I could not stay there any longer. I quickly changed my clothes and headed to my best friend's house.

When she heard my stories, she cursed and called him a pervert. However, since he did not do anything concrete, it was pointless calling the police.

I stayed with my best friend until Sunday afternoon when I had no choice but to head home. I had work on Monday and my clothes and work badge were all at home.

"Don't be afraid. If he still dares to harass you like that, tell me. I'll get my boyfriend to beat him up!"

With my best friend's consolation and the delivery of the pepper spray that just arrived, I was much more at ease.

He did not seem to be home when I returned.

While I was doing my laundry and putting it into the washing machine, I could not seem to find the stockings I wore on Friday. I could not locate them even after a round of searching.

Not knowing why, I found myself in front of my roommate's room. I reached out to open the door but realized it was locked.

I pulled back my hand, not knowing what to feel. Perhaps I misplaced those stockings somewhere.

…

I was fast asleep late at night when I heard my roommate returning home. This time, he was quiet in his room.

I fell asleep.

A long while later, I heard a loud thud. The sound of the water bottle falling to the floor woke me up instantly.

I groggily looked at the door to see it was ajar. I could roughly make out a dark figure standing by the door.